Was the Augusta riot worth it? Fifty years after the uprising, we look at the societal changes that it sparked, and what the Civil Rights Movement looks like today.

Bonus

Bonus: No Peace, No Justice, 1970

Sep 8th, 2020 7m 26s

In 1970, what happened in Augusta was actually part of a larger national story as campuses across the country were shut down due to protests.

Episode 5: The Smoke Clears

Sep 4th, 2020 46m 15s

In the months following Augusta's riot, activism was at an all-time high. As white Augustans braced themselves for the possibility of more violence, Black activists worked for more immediate change. Meanwhile, the police department rewarded the

Episode 5: The Smoke Clears

Aug 31st, 2020 46m 14s

Bonus

Bonus: All Cakes Should Be Equal

Aug 24th, 2020 15m 15s

Students from the Jessye Norman School of the Arts have been working hard to tell the story of the 1970 Augusta riot in the podcast, Shots in the Back. Half of these students are white, while the rest are Black. That dynamic has made it intimid

Episode 4: Shoot To Kill

Aug 10th, 2020 41m 13s

Inside the chaos of the uprising, Black and white leaders were trying to quell the violence. As rioters set fire to white-owned businesses, police officers were told to shoot to kill. In this episode, we tell the stories of the six Black men ki

Episode 3: The Days Of The Riot

Jul 27th, 2020 48m 16s

In this timeline of the 48-hour uprising in Augusta, we chart its chronological and geographic path. We hear about rioters who targeted Chinese-owned businesses, while police in armored personnel carriers patrolled the streets. The National Gua

Bonus

Bonus: People Called Him Charlie

Jul 21st, 2020 9m 25s

A listener reaches out to share his memories of Charlie Oatman. Fred McBrayer was a vocational rehabilitation counselor in Augusta, who worked with Oatman at his high school.

Episode 2: A Lay Of The Land In 1970 Augusta

Jul 13th, 2020 46m 58s

Why were Black Augustans so angry about Charles Oatman's death? Because it was a symbol for the myriad of other injustices and oppressions that they have dealt with everyday. This episode weaves together seemingly isolated issues that together

Bonus

Bonus: Could Charles Oatman’s Death Happen Today?

Jul 7th, 2020 12m 23s

Students from the Jessye Norman School of the Arts reflect on what they learned in the first episode of the podcast about Charles Oatman’s 1970 death in a Richmond County jail. They also draw on comparisons to Sandra Bland, who died in a Texas

Episode 1: The Forgotten Riot

Jun 29th, 2020 31m 25s

In this episode, we share the outlines of the riot, and one of its immediate causes, which was the death of Charles Oatman. He was a black, intellectually disabled teenager who was beaten to death in the Richmond, Co. jail.

Trailer

Jun 10th, 2020 3m 10s

"Shots in the Back: Exhuming the 1970 Augusta Riot" tells the story of one of the first major Civil Rights era riots in the South. The immediate cause of the August riot was the murder of Charles Oatman, an African American teenager held by pol

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